A simple way to strip stranded wire

I have quite a bit of stranded wire and have been trying to find a real simple way to strip it and I stumbled on a easy way. I did not see it posted in here so here it is.

I had an old small carpenters plane. I sharpened it up and fiddled with the depth of the cut. You want to set it so that the copper just shows when you cut.



Just lay the wire on a board or table clamp or hold one end and run it right down the top of it. It took a few practice runs but now I can strip it as fast as I can run the plane down the wire and the cut is the perfect depth all the way.

Thanks for this idea, definately worth a try!

this is off the top of my head so I may be way off m55, but wouldn't it work better to affix the plane to something and pull the wire across it instead....just trying to picture this, but the more mechanical vets will come along shortly....!! lol thanks for sharing...I have lots of old planes (collect old tools) and I wish I'd thought of it.

Originally Posted by Dumpster Dee

this is off the top of my head so I may be way off m55, but wouldn't it work better to affix the plane to something and pull the wire across it instead....just trying to picture this, but the more mechanical vets will come along shortly....!! lol thanks for sharing...I have lots of old planes (collect old tools) and I wish I'd thought of it.

In all reality no, because this way you are pinning the wire to a flat surface with pressure from the plane. your way you would have to figure out a way to constantly keep the wire against the cutter and the blade would be exposed to you running your fingers into it. Good thinking though!!

no, no...I mean PULLING the wire through....not getting your fingers near the blade !!! lol

I don't Dee. I think I'd have to agree with metalworks55 on this one. Simple yet effective. I'm definitely gonna give this one a try!

This guy seems to have a pretty easy way to strip wire I think it might be a little more along the lines of what you were thinking Dee... Be sure to turn your volume down though. He has some crazy techno music playing through the whole video.

I'll have to try this, Thanks.

Originally Posted by High Voltage Processing

Or we could all sell our wire to High Voltage

do you buy ribbon cable ?

Find a chair with hard plastic arm rest, drape your wire over the arm rest, using a box knife, lay the knife at an angle on the wire and hold the knife still while pulling the wire under the knife. I've done peices about 100 ft long in about 30 seconds. This does not work good for power cords.

found an old plane yesterday, going to give it a try tonight.

Thanks for this tip. tried it out.worked well.

Found a very small plane at the hardware store, a trim plane,Ive got over 4 lbs out of power cords, in just a couple evenings.

That's a great idea! Ill have to pass it on if u don't mind